WBB Completes Endowment Program

[YCN]

:ou:


I firmly believe that SoonerSports won't mind my posting the entire article here, along with a link to the article...

http://www.soonersports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=300&ATCLID=944759]http://www.soonersports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=300&ATCLID=944759

WBB Completes Endowment Program
Courtesy: SoonerSports.com
Release: 06/27/2007

<img src="http://www.nmnathletics.com.edgesuite.net/pics11/380/GZ/GZSUOBTTKUYYKGO.20070322160106.jpg" >


NORMAN, Okla. -- The University of Oklahoma women’s basketball program is making history this week by achieving a feat accomplished by only a few such programs in the nation – successful completion of a fund-raising campaign endowing all 15 scholarship positions.

“We began the endowment program in 2005 with a goal of creating a perpetual source of funding for our women's basketball program,” said OU head coach Sherri Coale. “The full endowment of all 15 scholarships puts us in a position to achieve self-sufficiency, an accomplishment achieved by very few programs across the country.”

In the span of only 30 months, Coale and company have completed the campaign, which endows each position with a $200,000 gift from OU alumni and friends.

OU President David L. Boren said, “I am deeply grateful to those generous donors who have helped the OU women’s basketball program make history by endowing scholarships for team members.”

In April 2005, Coale announced the “Starting Five,” supporters whose gifts established the first-ever endowed positions for the team. The “Starting Five” donors are the family of Jimmie Austin of Seminole in honor of his late wife, Lucille “Marie” Austin; the Jim and Christy Everest family of Oklahoma City; the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation in honor of Mary Jane Noble of Ardmore; and Bob and Ann Coleman of San Antonio; as well as an anonymous donor.

Since January 2006, seven other donors have joined the fold: Wayne T. “Dusty” and LaFawn Biddle of Englewood Colo.; John and Sue Gibbs of Ardmore; Robert and Doris Klabzuba of Fort Worth; John and Mary Nichols of Oklahoma City; the Fast Break Club and Sooner Stilettos, women’s basketball support organizations, in honor of Marita Hynes, longtime associate athletics director at OU, now retired; the Donald E. Criswell Family of Oklahoma City; and Henry Roberson of Norman.

The three endowments that completed the campaign were gifts from Jimmy Williams, Debbie Morehead and Cody Pogue, all of Edmond, in honor of Coale; Steve and Becki Seay of Cheyenne; and Jeannine T. Rainbolt of Oklahoma City.

“While the financial repercussions are emphatic and will continue to resonate through the years, the relationship piece of this program has already proven priceless,” said Coale. “The individuals and families who have generously endowed these positions have invested in the lives of our past, present and future student athletes.”

OU Director of Athletics Joe Castiglione added, “The success of any endowment program rests with the donors who make it possible. We benefit greatly from individuals and families who share our vision for education and competition, and I cannot thank them enough for the strength they give to our program.

“I also can’t thank Sherri Coale enough for her emphasis on the endowment program. She became very interested in this concept, and her energy was essential in making it a success. Sherri’s focus on the goal was infectious.

“President Boren’s initiative to grow the university’s endowment is well-documented and extremely important. It is rewarding for our department to support his direction in this way.”


Below is a list of the 15 OU Women’s Basketball Endowments with foundation player and current recipient:

The Lucille “Marie” Austin Scholarship
Foundation Player: Stephanie Simon
Prior Recipient: Lauren Shoush
Current Recipient: Courtney Paris

The Bob and Ann Coleman Scholarship
Foundation Player: Phylesha Whaley
Prior Recipient: Antoinette Wadworth
Current Recipient: Krista Sanchez

The Jim and Christy Everest Scholarship
Foundation Player: Caton Hill
Prior Recipient: Erin Higgins
Current Recipient: Danielle Robinson

The Mary Jane Noble Scholarship
Foundation Player: Stacey Dales
Prior Recipient: Laura Andrews
Current Recipient: Ashley Paris

Anonymous Donor
Foundation Player: Teresa Turner
Prior Recipient: Beky Preston
Current Recipient: Jenny Vining

The Wayne T. “Dusty” and LaFawn Biddle Scholarship
Foundation Player: Jen Cunningham
Prior Recipient: Leah Rush
Current Recipient: Carlee Roethlisberger

The Robert and Doris Klabzuba Scholarship
Foundation Player: Molly McGuire-Snively
Current Recipient: Chelsi Welch

The John and Sue Gibbs Scholarship
Foundation Player: Dionnah Jackson
Current Recipient: Kendra Moore

The Mary and John Nichols Scholarship
Foundation Player: Tami Rogers
Current Recipient: Carolyn Winchester

The Fast Break Club & Sooner Stilettos Marita Hynes Scholarship
Foundation Player: Desiree Taylor
Current Recipient: Britney Brown

The Don Criswell Family Scholarship
Foundation Player: Shannon Selmon
Current Recipient: Amanda Thompson

The Henry P. Roberson Family Scholarship
Foundation Player: Jamie Talbert-Wyrick
Current Recipient: Jenna Plumley

The Sherri Coale Scholarship
Foundation Player: Sunny Hardeman
Current Recipient: Nyeshia Stevenson

The Seay Family Scholarship
Foundation Player: Lisa Allison
Current Recipient: Abi Olajuwon

The Jeannine T. Rainbolt Scholarship
Foundation Player: Angie Guffy-Koontz
Current Recipient: Rose Hammond

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[TTU79]

Way to go, Sooners! This is great news and I hope it stimulates the rest of the Big 12 to get on board.

[BeBe]

Congrats OU. I would love to be in a position to do that. Unfortunately .....

[jcarter]

that's great news for OU:)

[vickie1ok]

Here's a link to the DOK article with more quotes from Boren, notably about Sherri becoming an Oklahoma icon.

She also got a raise. Sherri has done more than raise money for WBB. The reason they do the summer Sooner caravan tour is not just to support the sports programs but to raise more money for the university and Sherri is consistently the most popular speaker.

Oops, I forgot to add the link!

http://newsok.com/article/3071811

[MsProudSooner]

When the Caravan was in Tulsa earlier this month, they auctioned off some things, as they always do. There was a trip to the Colorado fb game, an autographed football and a framed 'Pink Out' T-shirt and picture of the women's bb team. The trip brought just over $1,500. The autographed football brought in about $1000. The framed 'Pink Out' t-shirt brought in over $4,000!

[BearLady]

Congrats to OU, Coach Coale and the wbb program for pursuing and completing this mission!

Thanks also to the posters who have shared info about the endowment program over the months. This is a great accomplishment, and as a fan of wcbb, I sure enjoy hearing about such successes!

[LadyBuff]

Congrats OU. I would love to be in a position to do that. Unfortunately .....

Good job, OU. I think BeBe is right about CU.

[tx4OU]

On a big side note relating to the University's endowments:

OU's Donations/Endowments top 1 Billion!

Sooners in Rare Air: OU's endowments top $1 billion mark

By April Marciszewski, World Staff Writer
6/27/2007

ARDMORE -- University of Oklahoma President David Boren said Tuesday that the school has raised its endowment to $1 billion, joining only 19 other colleges nationwide in reaching that goal.

In the last few months, OU's endowment has risen to $1.108 billion, up from $219 million in 1992, according to the school.

The university received $125.8 million in donations in the last year. The endowment amount fluctuates based on the stock market.

Boren and other OU administrators reviewed the last year's accomplishments and 2007-08 goals at a board of regents meeting Tuesday in Ardmore.

Only interest earned from the endowment is spent, and that money primarily provides scholarships to students and pays faculty members whose jobs are endowed, Boren said.

OU faculty members, on average, earn about $11,000 more than Oklahoma State University's faculty members, and that is because of OU's endowment, Boren said. In the last two years, OU has provided 3,500 additional students with scholarships, also because of the endowment.

A large endowment helps a university weather poor leadership and hard times by keeping top faculty members and helping students pay for college, Boren said.

OU has increased its donor base from 17,000 in 1994 to almost 113,000 in 2006. Boren said the group of people capable of making large donations is small, so the university is working on grooming the younger generation -- people in their 20s through 40s -- to make donations.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/artic..._A9_spanc34632

[vickie1ok]

David Boren is the best thing ever to happen to OU. And you definitely see where the money is being spent. All the new buildings, endowed professorships, new scholarship programs and upgrading of facilities has been absolutely unprecedented in Boren's relatively short tenure. I think he's in his 12th or 13th year since retiring from the Senate.

When he was a US Senator, I worked for AT&T and worked closely with our lobbyist for Oklahoma. He told me Boren was the most respected member of the Oklahoma delagation, not only in Washington but by leaders around the world. (and he was personally a big time Republican but really admired Boren) Don't think people like Margaret Thatcher, Henry Kissinger or Desmond Tutu just dropped out of the sky to land at OU to speak at symposiums. Boren has a lot of clout and it has paid of in spades.

And, MPS, I heard that Sherri spoke last at the Tulsa caravan and it was either Castiglione or Boren who introduced her by saying she was last to speak because no one else wanted to follow her! I believe it.

[MsProudSooner]

She has spoken last before, but this time Stoops was last, I think.

The entire thing was running late because they had a much larger walk-up crowd than anticipated.

[vickie1ok]

Maybe it was last year or another town. But she really does engage the crowd, doesn't she?

[YCN]

:ou:

That's an amazing statistic! I did the math, and the endowment is now above 37 thousand dollars per student, full-time or part-time. I'd love to see the day when the University was fully self-sufficient and able to admit any qualified state student who wished to attend.

I've felt for quite some time that David Boren was the finest hire in the history of OU, and he's not disappointing me. The staggering and accelerating pace of donations to the school is a feel-good story that just doesn't seem like it's going to go away any time soon. And obviously, part of the reason for that is the quality of education that OU is providing, the support for the students and faculty and alumni, it's just across the board really really good right now.

I realize that a lot of people don't think that The University of Oklahoma is anything other than a football school and diploma mill, but so many known facts provide more than ample evidence to blow that image clear out of the water. Here are some facts that maybe some people don't know about OU, from the OU.edu website:

http://www.ou.edu/publicaffairs/OUFacts1.shtml

Facts
OU is number one in the nation per capita among public universities in the number of National Merit Scholars enrolled. Six hundred National Merit Scholars currently are enrolled at OU.
The University of Oklahoma ranks in the top 10 in the nation in the Freshman Year Experience, according to a national study by the Policy Center on the First Year of College. The study recognizes OU's initiatives for first-year students and its commitment to put students first.
The Princeton Review ranks OU among the Top 10 public universities in the nation in terms of academic excellence and cost for students. The list included universities like University of California-Berkeley and University of Virginia-Charlottesville.
Last year, OU was in the Top Ten universities in the nation in Goldwater Scholarships in Math and Sciences.
OU is the highest ranked public university in the history of Oklahoma. The latest U.S. News and World Report rankings place OU in the top tier among national public universities.
OU has over a $1.5 billion impact on the state's economy each year.
OU ranks first in the Big 12 and at the top in the nation in international exchange agreements with countries around the world. The University has 171 student exchange agreements with universities in 60 countries. Fourteen hundred students from 95 countries are enrolled on OU's Norman campus.
OU is in the top five in the nation among all comprehensive public universities in the graduation of Rhodes Scholars.
OU is one of the few public universities in the nation to cap the class size of first-year English composition courses at no more than 19 students.
The University has created an Honors College with one of the largest honors programs among public universities in the United States. More than 2,600 students participate in small classes of 19 or less.
Just one year after launching a five-year, $50 million Campaign for Scholarship endowments, OU achieved its goal, allowing the university to award hundreds of new scholarships this fall and ensuring that OU will remain affordable and keep open the door of opportunity for all qualified students.
OU's private endowment has more than quadrupled since 1994, growing from $204 million to more than $1 billion.
OU continues to break private fund-raising records, with more than $1 billion in gifts and pledges over the past decade, which has provided funding for dramatic capital improvements, the growth in faculty endowment and student scholarships.
Due to OU’s increased private support during the past 12 years, the number of endowed faculty positions has quadrupled, increasing from 100 to 444, helping to retain and attract talented faculty members.
Over the past decade, research and sponsored programs expenditures at OU have more than doubled, and OU continues to set new records for funding for externally sponsored research and will reach almost $250 million this year.
The OU Health Sciences Center in FY 2004 continued its impressive rate of research growth by achieving more than $124 million in federal, state, corporate and non-profit or foundation grants and contracts. Funding from the National Institutes of Health – considered to be the gold standard for research – was nearly $53 million.
Since 1995, almost $1.5 billion in construction projects have been completed, are under way or are forthcoming on OU’s three campuses, the largest of which is the $67 million National Weather Center.
OU is home to one of the two largest natural history museums in the world associated with a university. The Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History has more than 6 million artifacts and contains 198,000 square feet on 60 acres of land. The museum exhibits include the largest Apatosaurus on display in the world and the oldest work of art ever found in North America — a lightning bolt painted on an extinct bison skull.
The Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art's collections total more than 8,000 works of art, including OU's Weitzenhoffer Collection of French Impressionism, the single most important gift of art ever given to a U.S. public university, major works by the Taos Colony of artists; the former U.S. State Department Embassy art collection; and the Dorothy Dunn collection of Native American art.


And that list is not likely to grow smaller anytime soon. According to this article (http://www.ocala.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070611/OPINION/206110338/1008/OPINION) I read earlier today, Oklahoma leads the nation in enrollment of three- and four-year-olds in voluntary pre-kindergarten programs.

Why is that significant? Well, according to this man, it means more than most people know...
They focus on the research of James Heckman, a Nobel laureate econmist from the University of Chicago, who "believes that Pre-K is the single most effective and efficient investment in building human capital."

GREAT news! :)

[vickie1ok]

Great job, YCN. Only you could pull so much information together so quickly, but you are absolutely right.

What OU has done in the past 12 years probably exceeds what they've accomplished in all the years before. And, they have done a great job of improving sports facilities in football, basketball, softball, tennis, soccer and track and field. And they recently announced the addition of a competitive rowing team and will build a $1 million facility on the Oklahoma River at Bricktown which will become a world class rowing facility.

I never ceased to be amazed. You should see the new weather center building. They had one of the top three weather schools in the nation before this new facility, which I don't think has opened yet but is close.

I've been to the Sam Noble Natural History museum when they had the T-Rex named Sue traveling exhibit. It is quite impressive, and they had dinosaur exhibits more impressive than Sue. People think T-Rexs are much bigger than they are because of Steven Spielberg. I haven't been to the art museum yet, but I'm glad you reminded me. Next time my brother comes down, we'll go there.

I just hope Boren's health will keep up for at least another 10-15 years. Imagine the possibilities. And it isn't just Boren's ability to raise funds; he came from an education background before he ran for Oklahoma governor.

[YCN]

Vickie, if you can catch the Weitzenhoffer Collection while it's actually on major exhibition, do not miss the opportunity to do so. I went and planned to spend 30-45 minutes in the pre-expansion museum and was so absorbed and enchanted that I actually had security guards standing on both shoulders should I be one of those crazy people to defile a work of art.

It's just amazing, and in one visit it increased my understanding of the Impressionist Movement a thousand-fold. Words cannot express.

Run, don't walk when the opportunity arrives. And I'm not even an artist!

[tx4OU]

I just hope Boren's health will keep up for at least another 10-15 years.

If looks say anything, he should live a long time. He's dropped a lot of weight from his days in the US Senate.

[vickie1ok]

YCN, the new wing was completed last year to the Fred Jones Art Museum and the Weitzenhoffer exhibit has a permanant wing. I understand they designed it with furniture and artifacts from her home and have the paintings hanging in rooms where she had them in her home. It's like walking through her home where the paintings were. The last time I went to Paris, which was a long time ago, I went to Monet's country home and gained a great respect for impressionist art.

Also, the new wing was designed by an architect who designed several wings at the Smithsonian and said it was his work of art that should make a major travel guide's (I can't remember which) as a top place to go out of your way to visit. Also, the director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art was the keynote speaker at the ceremony and he told the DOK "the facility was first rate, especially for a university, and he wasn't just being kind."

I'm going to set up a visit probably in mid-August with my friends and I'll let you know what it's like. They also added a major exhibit of Indian art from Taos which was another big donation. If they allow pictures, which they probably don't, I'll figure out how to post the photos.